Page 179 of Crown of Darkness
That won’t be difficult. “Did you have to grope me in front of that prick?”
“Yes, I did. He was trying to peer under your hood.”
He shoves me past a trio of marching soldiers, barely even looking at them. I can’t believe nobody’s raised a cry yet, but Thiago moves as if he owns the castle. Of course, he always moves like that, but there’s something about the set of his shoulders and the look on his face that makes it very clear he knows where he is and where he’s going.
Nobody dares get in his way to question him.
“Do you know where we’re going?” I gasp, scurrying to keep up with him, “Or are you simply guessing?”
“I know where I’m going.”
I shoot him a look.
His lips press thinly together as he pushes me toward the left. “I came looking for my father once. I wanted to kill him, but he was riding at Angharad’s side then, surrounded by an entire army of unseelie. I was much younger, and the only way to get close enough was to infiltrate her army and work my way closer to the keep. I served here for several months before I realized that even if I got close to him, I was never going to be able to kill him.”
“Will… Amaya…?”
I can tell he hasn’t thought of it. His brow furrows. “I hope not. I hope there’s no piece of me inside her. Not like that. She deserves to know peace.”
“Which way?” Eris asks as we reach a branch in the tunnel.
Thiago pauses and glances to the left. “This way. We’re going down now. The Well of Tears is not far. I think it best if we keep our mouths shut from now on.”
* * *
Torches linethe walls of the Well of Tears, and banes prowl the open cavern. But it’s the set of standing stones that have been hauled into an upright position by pulleys that captures my attention.
This is where the Horned One is bound.
And I can see from the cleave lines through the base of the stones that they fell at one stage. When the Alliance of Light came for the Horned One, he clearly didn’t go easy. Power sheared through those stones, and someone’s resurrected them and resealed them with melted brass.
The Hallow pulses.
But it’s an odd beat.
An echo.
As if the power that flows through the stones meets that brass line and takes a second to skip over it through the rest of the stone.
Dozens of banes are chained to the walls. Another dozen or so unseelie warriors stand guard with their hands on their swords. They’re not like the ones in the foothills. No, these ones wear black markings tattooed on their cheeks, and there’s a hardness to their eyes and bodies that assures me they won’t be easy to defeat.
But it’s the sight of the three fetches standing between us and the Hallow that makes my heart pound in my ears.
“How are we going to get past them?” I whisper.
Grimm suddenly shimmers into the physical world, wending his way through my legs. “Consider them mine, Princess. I’ll make the Shadows so dangerous they won’t dare fade into them.”
And then he’s gone again.
A guard turns, frowning at our sudden appearance. “What are you doing down here? The queen is not to be disturbed while she—”
He suddenly sees the blood dripping from Thiago’s short sword, and his tongue trips over itself. There were five guards outside, but Thiago dispatched them with ruthless efficiency.
The guard’s eyes widen. “You’re not—"
Thiago lunges forward, grabbing him by the helmet and yanking him onto the blade. A soft cry chokes out from the guard’s mouth, but Thiago catches him as he slumps, and tries to ease him back into the shadows.
Too late.
